MCreaders - 9th Grade

Required Reading
Romeo and Juliet – William Shakespeare (All Levels)
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee (All Levels)
Recommended Reading - Fiction
And Then There Were None – Agatha Christie
Cold Sassy Tree – Olive Ann Burns
The Good Earth – Pearl S. Buck
Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
House Made of Dawn – N. Scott Momoday
The House on Mango Street - Sandra Cisneros
Robinson Crusoe – Daniel Defoe
Speak – Laurie Halse Anderson
A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
War of the Worlds – H. G. Wells
Whale Talk – Chris Crutcher

Recommended Reading – Non-Fiction

Hole in My Life - Jack Gantos	Gantos relates how, as a young adult, he became a drug user and smuggler, was arrested, did time in prison, and eventually got out and went to college, all the while hoping to become a writer.
Left for Dead - Peter Nelson	Recalls the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis at the end of World War II, the Navy cover-up and unfair court martial of the ship's captain, and how a young boy helped the survivors set the record straight fifty-five years later.
Survive! - Peter DeLeo
They Cage the Animals at Night – Jennings Michael Burch	A personal account of the author's experiences living in New York City orphanages and foster homes from 1949 until his reunion with his friend and guardian three years later.

High-Interest Reading

The Book Thief-Markus Zusak	Death narrates this novel set in small-town Germany during WWII.
Breathing Underwater-Alex Flinn	Sent to counseling for hitting his girlfriend, Caitlin, and ordered to keep a journal, sixteen-year-old Nick recounts his relationship with Caitlin, examines his controlling behavior and anger, and describes living with his abusive father.
Elsewhere- Gabrielle Zevin	After fifteen-year-old Liz Hall is hit by a taxi and killed, she finds herself in a place that is both like and unlike Earth, where she must adjust to her new status and figure out how to "live."
The Five People You Meet in Heaven- Mitch Albom	A bitter eighty-three-year-old war veteran who believes his life is meaningless dies while trying to save a little girl and finds himself in heaven, where five people from his past--some loved ones, some strangers--explain what his years on Earth really meant, and whether or not he succeeded in saving the child.
Fallen Angels- Walter Dean Myers	Seventeen-year-old Richie Perry, just out of his Harlem high school, enlists in the Army in the summer of 1967 and spends a devastating year on active duty in Vietnam.
The Freedom Writer’s Diary – The Freedom Writers	Tells the story of how young English teacher confronted the problem of racial and ethnic intolerance in her classroom, and features excerpts from the diaries of her students, now known as The Freedom Writers.
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon – Stephen King	Nine-year-old Trisha McFarland, lost in the woods after she wanders off, boosts her courage by imagining that her hero, Red Sox relief pitcher Tom Gordon, is helping her survive an unknown enemy.
Glass Castle- Jeannette Walls	The author recalls her life growing up in a dysfunctional family with an alcoholic father and distant mother and describes how she and her siblings had to fend for themselves until they finally found the resources and will to leave home.
Holes- Louis Sachar	His misfortune blamed on a family curse, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a hellish correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself.
Shattering Glass- Gail Giles	Rob, the charismatic leader of the senior class, provokes unexpected violence when he turns the school nerd into Prince Charming.
Staying Fat for Sarah Burns- Chris Crutcher	The daily class discussions about the nature of man, the existence of God, abortion, organized religion, suicide and other contemporary issues serve as a backdrop for a high-school senior's attempt to answer a friend's dramatic cry for help.
Tangerine	Twelve-year-old Paul, who lives in the shadow of his football hero brother Erik, fights for the right to play soccer despite his near blindness and slowly begins to remember the incident that damaged his eyesight.